‘Optics’ vs. pay: St. Clair County Board advances raises tied to future terms
The St. Clair County Board voted Monday night to approve raises for certain elected officials.
The treasurer, assessor and county clerk will receive 1.32% raises in 2027 and 2028 and 2% raises in 2029 and 2030.
County Board members will also get 2% raises in 2029 and 2030.
No Republican board member present for the meeting voted in favor of the measure. Several said they opposed increasing their own salaries.
The raises won’t take effect until after the Nov. 3 general election, when 16 of the 28 board members are up for reelection along with the treasurer and assessor. (Three incumbent Democrats are not running: County Clerk Tom Holbrook and County Board members Jerry Dinges of District 15 and Richie Meile of District 25.)
Many incumbents are unopposed following the March 17 primary, but that could still change before November.
Seven GOP board members voted against the salary ordinance: Steve Reeb of District 13; Mike O’Donnell of District 18; Phil Henning of District 19; Ed Cockrell of District 20; Andy Bittle of District 21; Kevin Dawson of District 24; and Robert Wilhelm of District 26.
Republican Matt Smallheer of District 27 abstained from voting.
The only other Republican on the board, John Coers of District 28, was absent from the meeting.
‘Don’t like the optics’
Dawson was the first to speak out against the new salary ordinance during Monday’s meeting.
“I don’t like the optics of voting to increase a salary that I make as a member of the County Board,” he said.
Henning, Wilhelm and Bittle each said they voted no for the same reason.
Democrat Sue Gruberman of District 22, who supported the ordinance, offered a different perspective on the vote.
“You’re not really approving your own salary; you’re approving it for the future position — and you have to win,” she said during the meeting.
Democrat Steve Gomric of District 8 also voted to pass the ordinance but said he understood why others didn’t. He proposed cost of living raises as a future alternative.
“If everyone’s so opposed to raising their own salaries, or even raising the salaries of these elected officials, you can tie these to an economic indicator,” he said. “They do this in other places where you just say, ‘Well, the cost of living went up 2%.’”
Dawson emphasized that he wasn’t opposed to raises for the treasurer, assessor and clerk.
“Quite frankly, I think it ought to be more because you got to spend good money to have good people. And the services that I experience at the county are unparalleled. And so that vote is in no way some sort of credibility judgment on the service,” Dawson said.
Henning suggested that future salary increases, with the board voting on County Board raises separate from raises for other elected officials.
Six County Board members were absent from Monday’s meeting: Coers; Dinges; Meile; G.W. Scott Jr. of District 2; Ken Easterley of District 9; and Jana Moll of District 23.
